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After three years of intense focus on therapy and personal growth, I'm finally hitting the keys again and will be jumping into NaNoWriMo on November 1st, 2016. Stay tuned for updates!

Monday, 11 November 2013

ON WRITING - Stephen King (Redux)

Recently, I’ve been reading On Writing by Stephen King, which is WONDERFUL!!! I am about the biggest chicken you will ever
meet, so I have read a total on one (1) Stephen King book (this will be my
second), so I wouldn’t say I’m a huge Stephen King fan, except, I am
(especially after this book). His
writing is so honest and accessible. Under the Dome is the only other book I’ve
read by him and I devoured it. Many more
of his works are now on my unending reading list after On Writing, but that’s not relevant to this post.

Every writer of fiction should read this book. It is refreshing and hopeful. Many of my greatest fears have been soothed
by reading about the humble beginnings of one of the century’s most well-known authours. Not only this, he shares his process –
invaluable.

The most beneficial thing that I’ve taken from the book
is the encouragement to write alone in a dark corner of the room without any
distractions. I’ve tried so many
different tactics to improve my focus while writing but had forgotten the roots
of my own process. When I was younger, I
would always sit in my dark room and pound out pages of writing. Since I’ve decided to pursue writing on a
serious level, I have found it d. Not
hard in the way of finding what to write about, but the actual sitting down and
writing. There were too many
distractions. My desk faced the window –
an eye to the outside world, for inspiration… or so I thought. In fact, it was a distraction. One more thing to draw my eye (and mind) away
from the task at hand.

Since reading the book, I have once again adopted the
habit of shutting all my lights, turning my computer and phone to airplane mode
(not something I had to do in the past, but necessary today), and plugging in
my headphones when I sit down to write.
It has made A WORLD of difference.
I can now easily pound out words by the thousands. Also, when I find myself stuck and clicking
on websites that turn up the “unable to connect to the internet” message (which
happens all the time – old habits die hard), I get back on track much
quicker. Previously, I would spend 30
minutes looking at BuzzFeed.com (so many hours spent looking at lists of “45
Cutest Photos You Have Ever Seen” or similar).
It is amazing.

King discusses the need for the writer to escape into the
inner world of the story. Any outside “noise”
just pulls you out of that world and back into the present. There has to be complete immersion if you
expect to get anything cohesive out of your writing. As well, it triggers your brain to move into
the writing mindset. There is a ritual
that your body associates with introspective story time. These rituals are important.

I live in a small bachelor apartment in a big city. There is not space to find a separate corner
to dedicate to writing and there are lots of distractions, even on the street,
so shutting the lights, putting on my writing sweater (yes, I have a sweater
that I wear when it is writing time – and sometimes a toque – very Canadian)
and sitting at my computer means that I have left the reality of my apartment
and exist only in the words I put on the page.
Usually, this is accompanied by a cup of coffee or scotch (or both), but
there is a ritual to it and my body responds.

Another thing that has immediately affected my writing is
from his reference to The Elements of
Style by Strunk & White regarding Rule #17 – Omit needless words. King discusses the rule of thumb formula that
2nd draft = 1st draft – 10% (an interesting
approach). King, as I’ve read from many
writers, believes that you should write the first draft of anything without
looking back at what you’ve written until it is finished. Don’t edit along the way – it is unproductive
and you get caught up in a web of your own inadequacies. Once your first draft is complete, you can bring
the red pen down and start slashing all those needless words, the result should
be about 10% shorter than the original.
At least that’s the basics of the principle - you really need to read
the whole book.

I might not be at the 10% level yet, but it is a good
rule to keep in mind while editing. “How
can I say this clearer?” is the question I find myself asking now, which
usually results in saying the same thing in fewer words.

The last thing I’m going to mention in this post (not
enough time to cover everything – that’s why I called it “Redux”) is that King
charges new writers with writing 1000 words a day with one day off a week. I cheered a little when I read that. I had set to that task at the start of the
month, just to get a groove going, so I felt one step ahead of the curve – a good
place to be. King writes 2000 words a
day. His routine is to spend the morning
writing 2000 words of whichever story he is working on (as long as it takes
him), go for a walk, edit in the afternoon and read in the evening. For him, reading is as much part of being a
writer as writing. Reading informs your
work – good and bad. Good writing gives
you something to strive for and bad writing makes you feel better about your
own. It’s true – think about it.

If you’re a new writer, just try a few of these methods
and see how quickly your writing grows.
It’s incredible. Please share any
of your experiences, tips, rituals in the comments.

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Welcome to Art Thief!

After a few failed attempts at creating "themed story" blogs, I have been inspired to create a blog with the true intention of the format: a simple web log of my inspirations as a writer and artist.

This blog is dedicated to Austin Kleon, whose book Steal Like an Artist, has been my primary inspiration.

In this book, Kleon discusses how all art is stolen in some way and a good artist knows what is worth stealing. As artists, we cannot fool ourselves into thinking that everything we create is original. We all draw our inspiration from many sources and we steal little gems from each one to develop our own body of work. Kleon's book outlines simple practices to ensure that you keep your art alive; one being: SHARE YOUR WORK.

Thief Profile

Good thieves never reveal their identity... although, good thieves don't likely advertise their plunders to the rest of the world either.

Art Thief, aka AJ, keeps her home in Toronto, Canada; though work often pulls her to every corner of the globe.

AJ is a writer and teacher disguised as a mild mannered stage manager. She loves working in theatre and being able to surround herself with some of the best artists in the industry (while plotting to take over the world with her own work). As a stage manager, AJ is constantly immersed in all forms of art. Talk about inspiration overload! The number of stories and characters that fill each day is more than any writer could ask. The goal now: keep up!

AJ is working on a lot of projects in 2013, including: the first full length run of her play, Empty Boxes; and the launch of Homestead Theatre Project. Stay tuned in the Happenings section of this blog for details.